CHAPTER 7

Personal Presence Management

(Your Time Is Not Yours)

Nowadays, presence management topics address mostly online communications presence (through the use of computers, cell phones, and e-mails).i

Combining personal and business presence management can become complicated quickly. Anything that slows down lines of communication might also slow down business. Therefore, presence management needs to address both business presence and personal presence.

One cannot (should not) remain present (available) continuously. This may lead to burnout.

Business communication processes need to integrate efficiently with personal ones so that the flow of communication and business operations runs smoothly without adversely affecting personal life.20

Presence in the office is not mentioned very often, unless it refers to burnout.

Vignette: Daddy When Are You Coming Home?

One evening, my daughter, who was 3 years old at the time, asked me, “Daddy, when are you coming home?”

I was shocked by her question.

“What do you mean by ‘come home’?” I asked her.

“We are waiting for you upstairs, for supper,” she answered.

I was working at my computer in my house office that evening, as usual. In my mind, I was at home. My daughter proved me wrong. My body was “at home,” but my mind was still at the office. My daughter woke me up to that reality, a reality that eluded me till then.

As a young partner with a prestigious information management firm, I believed that working at home, after a full day at the office, was the norm. I had been doing this for quite some time.

I would leave early, usually before 7:00 am, to beat the traffic across the bridge to downtown Montreal, where my company’s head office was located. It was an easier commute at that time. I could drive straight from my home garage to my company-provided underground parking in Place Ville-Marie. My office, located on the 22nd floor, overlooked the North of the city, with a view of the bridges over the St. Laurence River and the main buildings along Dorchester Boulevard and a glimpse of the Olympic stadium on the horizon.

Anyhow, I was mostly absorbed by my management consulting projects, giving them all the attention, spending my time in meetings with either my consultants or customers, and writing my never-ending reports. My work was never done. I would often spend weekends in my downtown office and evenings in my home office.

This was what breadwinners do, I thought.

Actions speak louder than words.

Lessons Learned: Family Matters

I was totally lost in my work without being aware of it. I was fortunate to have my 3-year-old daughter help me realize that what I was doing was affecting her, my family, and my work.

I needed to start managing my time better.

Manage your work presence.

Vignette: Who Works on Weekends?

I was very excited when I became president of a high-tech manufacturing plant. This was my first venture in manufacturing, although I had previously worked with high-end manufacturing companies. This time, I was going beyond my specialty in IT. I had to dive into areas beyond my comfort zones of IT, marketing, and sales. Plant operations were the basis of all goods produced, inventory management was essential to keep capital use optimized, and safety was paramount.

It was particularly difficult once sales took off, requiring three shifts, 6-day weeks.

I was older this time. Our children were all grown-up. My son was one of the workers on the plant floor. He mingled with the other workers. They often talked about how hard I was driving them to meet production demands. Most worked overtime.

Even with additional compensation, they were showing signs of burnout.ii

I was not aware of the looming issues undermining work morale. To me, hard work was normal. It was rewarded with a booming business, busy workforce, growing customer base, and recognition by my peers. What was wrong with this?

The message came from my son when he was visiting for barbeque on one of those rare times I was at home on a summer weekend.

He shared with me some of the concerns expressed by other employees during his lunch breaks at work. The workers discussed their plummeting morale. They were tired of working overtime.

He responded to them with, “Who works on Sundays?”

They knew it was me.

They answered, “How long can he keep up?”

I got the message.21

Weekends are for work, are they not?

Lessoans Learned: Slow Down

Despite my good physical and mental condition, my drive, and motivation, I could keep this up only a limited time before I too would fall in the vicious circle of burnout. I had to change my behavior.

First, I talked to the workers and managers about how to address the issue of too much overtime. They suggested hiring part-time workers, especially for the graveyard shift. This was the most dreaded and most demanding shift.

Second, I needed to slow down our sales growth. We could not keep up with the growing demand that increased the risk of missed shipping deadlines, which in turn could alienate customers. It was better to promise less and deliver more than promised than the other way around.

Finally, I had to slow down. Maybe not work every Sunday?

Warning Signs of Burnout

Dr. Ballard’s warning signs of burnout:

  1. Exhaustion

  2. Lack of motivation

  3. Frustration, cynicism, and other negative emotions

  4. Cognitive problems

  5. Slipping job performance

  6. Interpersonal problems at home and at work

  7. Not taking care of yourself

  8. Preoccupation with work when not at work

  9. Generally decreased satisfaction

10. Health problems

Over a long period of time, serious chronic stress can create real health problems, such as digestive issues, heart disease, depression, and obesity.

What if you are experiencing burnout?

Dr. Ballard let us in on what to do if one recognizes the aforementioned symptoms in oneself.

Relax

Sleep, listen to music, read a book, take a walk

Cultivate a rich life outside of work

Take time for yourself daily

Unplug

Practice “un-presence management”

Organize yourself

Prioritize your actions

Stay attuned

Be receptive to your own needs and feelings

Figure out when enough is enough

Move on

“I do think there are times when, no matter what you try to do, the organization is unable or unwilling to make those changes,” Dr. Ballard says, “and in those cases, it is just time to move on.”

Time is not renewable. Once behind us, it is gone forever.

iOnline presence management is the process of presenting and drawing traffic to a personal or professional brand online. This process combines web design and development, blogging, search engine optimization, pay-per-click marketing, reputation management, directory listings, social media, link sharing, and other avenues to create a long-term positive presence for a person, an organization, or a product in search engines and on the web in general. (Source: Wikipedia, accessed January 21, 2015.)

iiPsychoanalyst Herbert J. Freudenberger coined the term “burnout” in 1974. He defined burnout as “the extinction of motivation or incentive, especially where one’s devotion to a cause or relationship fails to produce the desired results.” Freudenberger, H., and R. Géraldine. 1980. Burn Out: The High Cost of High Achievement. What it is and how to survive it. Bantam Books. ISBN 978-0-553-20048-5. Accessed Jan. 21, 2015.

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